


Cupcakes and a child's love

by wavydanrises



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Parent!AU, Single Dad!Phil, Single Parent AU, baker!Dan, it's just very soft really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-05
Updated: 2017-08-05
Packaged: 2018-12-11 13:32:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11715390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wavydanrises/pseuds/wavydanrises
Summary: Dan is working at the bakery "The Cake Whisperer" when a man and his child come into his life. All it took was a spiderman cupcake.





	Cupcakes and a child's love

The first time Dan saw the black haired man with blue eyes, he was daydreaming at work, as usual. Well, not exactly daydreaming, he was still cleaning up the counter and making sure the inscription  _ “The Cake Whisperer” _ on the front was shiny enough to please his boss, Tom. His mind was somewhere else though, busy watching through the window, the kid excitedly dragging his father to the bakery. Dan smiled before focusing back on his work, and walking over to the backroom, making sure with his coworker that they had enough blueberry muffin for the usual 4pm rush, even if they still had time until then.

The bell above the door rang, and Dan went back to the counter to see the young man and the kid from earlier walking to one of the empty tables. He smiled a little, and let them time to sit down before walking up to them.

“Hi, my name is Dan and-”

“Are you the cupcake man?” the little boy interrupted him.

“Ethan please, don't speak over people.” The dad said, pushing a strand of black hair out of his face. “Sorry,” he added for Dan.

“No problem at all. Yes, I am the cupcake man, and I have the very important mission of bringing you the cupcake of your dreams. What would that be?”

Ethan seemed to think for a second, before his face lit up.

“A spiderman one!”

The man sighed, but couldn't seem to fight the little smile playing on his lips. 

“Ethan, I told you they don't have spiderman cupcakes, remember? Want to choose something else?”

“No. If I can't have a spiderman one, then I want nothing!”

“I'll share mine with you then, as usual. Sorry for the wait, could I have a blueberry muffin, please? And uh, two apple juices if that's possible.”

“Of course,” Dan smiled. “Coming right up.”

 

He walked back to the backroom, and shook his head as he remembered being in the place of that kid. Fuck if he was going to let him be disappointed over a spiderman cupcake. Tom was going to kill him, though. He grabbed a blueberry cupcake with a blue icing and looked for a few seconds before he found the red icing he was looking for.

 

A couple moments later, Dan was walking back to the table with the order on his plate.

“Two apple juices,” he said as he set them down on the table, “one blueberry muffin, and one special spiderman cupcake.”

It was worth it just for the way the kid's face lit up with a smile.

“Thank you, cupcake man!”

Dan chuckled, and looked back at the black haired man.

“This one's on the house don't worry, my boss would've annihilated me anyway for selling something not technically available.”

The man frowned.

“You're not going to get in trouble, are you? I mean, thank you, really, he's been demanding that for weeks now and wouldn’t listen to me.”

“No, no, don't worry! I am the cupcake man after all, it's only my mission.”

The man laughed. “Thank you, Dan. Really.”

Dan looked back at the kid already covered in icing.

“No problem.”

 

* * *

The second time Dan saw the black haired man was the next Sunday morning, at the groceries store, and truly he couldn't help but wonder how the hell he had never seen him in his entire life but it was already the second time in less than a week. And he totally intended to ignore him because really, how awkward would that be, but when he walked past him and saw what was in his basket, he couldn't help but laugh loudly. The man turned around and smiled.

“Hey, you're the guy from the bakery! Dan, was it? Didn't expect to see you here.”

“You do realize you're the actual embodiment of a maths problem, right?” Dan blurted out.

The other man -Dan was getting bored of calling him like this, he needed a nickname- looked confused for a second before looking back to his basket and laughing.

“Yeah, ok, i see you judging me for buying 12 apples, 6 bananas, 4 pears, and about 5 boxes of raspberries, but I have a perfectly valid explanation.”

“I'd be more than glad to hear it,” Dan raised an eyebrow.

Black-Hair-Dude? Nah, too long. Ethan’s dad? That'd do for now. 

“Children party,” he said as if that explained everything.

And it did. Dan nodded.

“Of course. Children parties. That's always what it is.”

Ethan’s dad smiled.

“You don't know what you're talking about, do you?”

“Nope, not a single clue,” Dan grinned widely. “I'll have to leave you to it, that is way out of my qualifications.”

“Are you saying cupcake man won't help me this time?” he asked, pretending to be offended.

“Nah, cupcake man deals with cupcakes. And buying cereals,” he added, raising the cereal box he had in hand. “Dealing with children parties wasn't part of the deal.”

“I understand,” the other nodded. “I, too, would run away if I had the chance.”

“But you don't! And I do. That's how unfair life is, sorry. And I am going to make good use of this advantage life has granted me and run before I’m late.”

“Go, go, don’t be late because of me,” Ethan’s dad chuckled. “I’ll see you around?”

“Yeah, probably,” Dan smiled as he walked away.

His mum was going to obliterate him if he was late for lunch again. And how unfair was it that he knew the child’s name but not his dad’s? That had to be some kind of stupid cosmic joke. 

 

* * *

 

The third time, it was Ethan who saw him first. When he saw the kid running towards him during his peaceful walk around the park, he accepted that his fate was to run into them a billion times before learning the dad’s name. He still needed to find him a nickname.

“Cupcake man!” the child called once he was next to him.

Why only call him when he was right here? Man, kids are strange.

“Hey there buddy. Where’s your dad?”

“I dunno. But I don’t wanna keep playing. There’s a scary man and I don’t like it.”

_ Oh, shit. _

“Alright, we’ll find your dad. Do you know where he could be? It’s a big park, it’ll be easier to find him if you can think of something.”

Ethan seemed to think furiously for a few seconds.

“He does the security here, so you gotta look for the green uniform! You’re tall so that’s easy for you.”

“Okay, let’s go th-”

“Wait! I have an idea! I can get on your shoulders, I can be even taller and I can see him from faaaar away!”

Dan tried to protest a bit, before quickly giving up.

“Alright, alright, ready? There you go,” he said, lifting him up until he was sat on his shoulders and was holding tightly onto his hair.

Ethan let out a victory scream, and Dan winced. 

“Aow, listen buddy, no screaming so close to my ears, alright? Thanks.”

The kid giggled. “Sorry, cupcake man. Let’s goooo!”

Dan sighed and smiled at the same time (that was possible, apparently), and started walking.

*

It took a little while, maybe ten minutes, before Ethan pulled on Dan’s hair violently.

“There! It’s him! Told you it’s easier when you’re tall,” he said. “Dad! Daaaad!” He started calling out, waving his hands.

Dan quickly put his arms up to prevent him from falling.

“Ethan, don’t do that, you’re going to get hurt. Come on, we talked about this like two minutes ago.”

He felt the tiny hands take ahold of his hair again. “Sorry.”

“It’s alright. But you have to be careful, yeah? Your dad will be very angry at me otherwise. Come on, let’s go get him.”

How he hadn’t heard Ethan yelling, that was a mystery. Dan walked up to him, and brought Ethan back on the ground when they were close enough. The kid ran up to him and grabbed onto his leg. From where he was, Dan could almost make up what was written on the nametag on his jacket. He took a couple steps ahead before being able to read it. Phil! Phil Lester. Now mystery man had a name. That was easier. And it suited him.

“Ethan? Hey, what are you doing here?” He picked him up and set him on his hip, as he looked up and noticed Dan standing near them. “Did you bring him here?”

Dan shrugged. “He was asking for you. I was just walking by but he-”

“I didn’t wanna play anymore! There was a scary man. I didn’t like it.”

Dan could’ve identified the exact moment Phil’s face changed colour.

“And I know you said not to talk to strangers,” Ethan continued to babble, “but it was cupcake man and it’s your friend. Are you mad?” He poked at Phil’s cheek.

“Not at all sweetheart, don’t worry. Why didn’t you go to Lisa’s mum, though? Did you not see her?”

Ethan shook his head. “No, they left just before me. I think. I didn’t see them, I was playing behind the castle.”

Phil closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Okay, okay… Listen Ethan, I’m going to see what’s going on with the scary guy, alright?”

“What do I do?” Ethan asked.

“I can stay with him,” Dan offered. “I mean- I get if you don’t want to, I just thought it’d be easier.”

The relief on Phil’s face wasn’t easy to miss.

“You would?”

“Yeah, sure. I don’t have anything to do, really, so I’d rather help here.”

Ethan jumped out of Phil’s embrace and ran towards Dan, clutching his leg.

“Yeah, dad. You can go fight the bad guys, cupcake man will protect me!”

Dan chuckled and ruffled his hair before looking up to Phil again.

“We’re not moving from here, promise.”

Phil put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it slightly when he walked past him.

“Thank you.”

After he left, Dan looked down at Ethan, still holding onto his leg.

“Alright buddy, what do you want to do?”

“I wanna fight the evil elves,” he answered with the most serious face Dan had seen him do so far.

“Okay well, better get started then.”

 

*

 

By the time Phil came back, Ethan was just about to fall asleep. On Dan’s arm, obviously. Phil smiled seeing them on the bench like this.

“Help,” Dan whispered dramatically. “I’m stuck.”

Phil giggled and sat next to him, gently nudging Ethan.

“Come on kiddo, don’t  fall asleep on people, we’ll go home soon.”

Ethan grumbled and tightened his grip on Dan’s sleeve.

“Don’t wanna,” he mumbled. “Am good. Not tired.”

Dan chuckled. “You’re all sleepy, come on. You’ve had a big day, I’m tired too. We’re all tired.”

“Nooo, am not.”

Dan looked up to Phil.

“Hey sweetheart, you remember you’re going to see mum tonight?”

“Can’t it be tomorrow?” He whined.

“You know it’s a no.” Phil brought up his hand to play with his hair. “Come on, we need to go now.”

Ethan only reaffirmed his hold on Dan’s arm.

“I’ll just walk with you,” Dan offered. “I can carry him.”

“Thank you, I don’t want to take up too much of your time, though…”

“It’s okay,” Dan smiled. “I don’t mind at all.”

“Thank you,” Phil said again.

“Alright buddy,” Dan stood up and lifted Ethan, waiting until he wrapped his arms around his neck. “There we go.”

 

They walked and talked for a while, and over these 20 minutes, Dan learned a lot of things. He learned how Phil and Ethan’s mum divorced when he was 2, four years ago. He stayed with Phil, mostly, except every other weekend that he spent with his mum. Phil didn’t say it obviously, not with Ethan dozing off in Dan's arms, but Dan could tell she didn't seem like the most affectionate mother, even though she still loved him. 

Ethan was barely awake when they arrived at his mum's house. She looked surprised enough when she saw Dan holding him.

“Hi Phil,” she said. “Hey Ethan,” she motioned towards Dan to give him to her. “And who's that with you?”

“It's cupcake man,” Ethan answered sleepily. “He's dad's friend. And mine. He's nice.”

“Cupcake man?” she repeated, amused.

“My name is Dan,” he smiled. “Although I do feel like cupcake man says more about who I am as a person.”

She didn't seem to get what he meant, but he heard Phil's soft chuckle next to him.

“Nice to meet you, then. I'm Lena.”

“We're not going to bother you longer, Ethan is exhausted and I've taken up enough of Dan's time. I'll pick you up in a few days, alright sweetheart? Love you” Phil said, ruffling Ethan’s hair. 

“Bye dad, love you lots.”

Dan and Phil turned away after saying goodbye to Lena.

“Bye Dan,” Ethan added in the tiniest voice.

Dan tried his best to hide the smile growing on his face. We walked with Phil in silence for a bit, the sun hadn't set yet. Dan looked up at Phil.

“You look like you need a coffe. Or a hug. Or both.”

“Yeah,” Phil smiled weakly. “I could do with a coffee.”

“Let's get you one then, yeah? Except if you're getting bored of me, of course. You can totally go take one by yourself. This is getting embarrassing.”

Phil laughed. “No, no, not at all! I'd love to go get coffee with you.”

 

* * *

 

The twentieth time Dan saw Phil, he was expecting it. He pushed the bakery’s door, Ethan following him close, and walked to the counter behind which Dan was standing.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey,” Dan smiled.

“Hi!” Ethan said, jumping to see over the counter and making both of them laugh.

“Thank you for watching him tonight,” Phil said. “You’re literally saving my life.”

“No problem, I didn’t have anything else planned anyway. Ready, buddy? I’ll be back in a sec.”

Dan opened the door behind him, and searched for his boss.

“Hey, Tom? I’m done, d’you want me to help you close?”

“Nah, don’t bother,” Tom shook his head. “I’ll be fine. You can go, see you on Monday.”

“Alright, thanks. Bye!”

He went back to the main room and ruffled Ethan’s hair.

“We’re all good to go, now!” He leaned towards him a little bit, and whispered theatrically. “Maybe we can even get ice cream, if you want.”

Ethan looked amazed, and Phil laughed and lightly punched Dan’s shoulder.

“Don’t go ruining everything I’ve been trying to do right, come on,” he complained.

Dan chuckled.

“Go to your thing and let us decide if we want ice cream or not,” he said.

“I’m going, I’m going. See you tomorrow sweetheart, be nice to Dan, alright?”

“I’m always nice,” Ethan said proudly. “Bye dad!”

Dan pecked Phil’s cheek while Ethan wasn’t looking.

“See you in a bit,” he smiled.

“Yeah,” Phil smiled back. “Good luck with him.”

 

*

 

By the time Phil got home, Ethan had been in bed for a few hours already, and Dan was starting to doze off in front of some random program on TV. Phil sat next to him on the sofa, and Dan let his head fall on his shoulder.

“About time,” he muttered. “I have no idea what I’m watching.”

“Sorry, I didn’t expect it to last that long, and I had to drop a few friends at their house, they were too drunk to drive. How’s it gone?”

“Alright, good enough reason. I’ll accept that. Went great, you really need to make him do more exercise though, I almost thought I’d fall asleep before he did. Did you eat?”

“Yeah, don’t worry. And I know, he’s impossible, I have no idea how he’s never tired. Do you want a glass of water?”

“Please.”

Phil got up and left the room. Dan listened to the water running, trying to make sense of the images in front of him, before giving up. Phil came back and gave him the glass.

“Thanks.”

He drank a bit and laid back against Phil. Phil put an arm around him and set his chin on his head.

“Oh yeah, he drew you something by the way, didn’t want to show me what it was though. He also has a great future in car design. When they won’t need wheels anymore. Good concept.”

Phil laughed, and startled Dan a little.

“You’re tired, you should sleep.”

“Mhmm, later. I’m comfortable,” he mumbled.

The kept silent for a while, the only sounds coming from the TV.

“Also,” Dan spoke up. “I forgot about it.”

“About what?”

“Ethan asked if I was going to be his second dad. And I didn’t say anything at first because, well, took me by surprise, so he said he’d be happy with it because I’m nice and I can make spiderman cupcakes.”

Phil chuckled.

“Ah yes, what else could anyone need? What did you tell him?”

“I told him to ask you later,” Dan giggled.

“You’re not helping, come on,” Phil complained. “He’s never going to shut up about it now.”

“What are you going to say?” Dan asked, slightly more seriously.

Phil buried his face in his hair and smiled.

“That I’d love nothing more than that.”

“Yeah,” Dan smiled too. “Love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> thank you all for reading! you can find me on tumblr @ wavydanrises <3


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